We hope that you will enjoy and profit from this
newsletter. You are invited to send us your comments and
suggestions on this and future editions.

May the Lord bless your family for His glory,
Pat, Sue, Heather, Holly, and Brian Welch

Table of Contents

Year-Round School Options

Summer School Options

Court Declares Pledge Unconstitutional

July 4th: Independence Day

Our Readers Write (Letter)

State Home-School Conventions

Sunny Side Up (Humorous Anecdote)

______________________________________________________

Win a FREE Vacation
Register for our Language Learning Competition.
Last year, we sent Anna Bellury and her parents to Paris,
France. Power-Glide offers adventure themed foreign
language courses for any age in six languages.http://www.Power-Glide.com/contest/index.asp?c=sponsor1
______________________________________________________

Year-Round School Options
Most home-school families continue learning during the
summer, either formally or informally. Many families have
chosen a regular schedule of study throughout the entire
year with variously timed breaks.

Sample Schedules
1. A four-day school week with three days off.
2. Three, four, or six weeks of school, then one week off.
3. Eight or ten weeks of school, then two weeks off.
Depending on the number of school days required by your
state's home-school law (if any), all these schedules would
allow several weeks of vacation time each year.
Vacation days can be spaced out evenly, reserved for
holidays or family vacations, or taken all at once in the
summer or whatever season is preferred.

Benefits
* Continuity of knowledge acquired and retention of basic
skills.
* More time to thoroughly cover a year's program and include
enrichment activities.
* Consistency of disciplined habits and productive use of
time year-round.
* More flexibility for other activities with a shorter
school day or week.
* A more relaxed, but steady, pace during the whole year
that reduces stress for student and teacher.
(Excerpted from the May/June 1998 Teaching Home.)
______________________________________________________

How Great Thou Art Publications
Art curriculum designed for the Home Schooled student.
Since 1991, HGTA has instructed students of all ages in the
fundamentals of drawing, painting, and color theory.
Online catalog, art galleries, sample lessons and much more!http://www.HowGreatThouArt.com
Free Catalog: 800-982-DRAW (3729)
______________________________________________________

Summer School Options
The home-school lifestyle of learning in the context
of everyday home life will ensure that your family will
continue learning throughout the summer, whether you decide
to adopt a year-round school schedule or not.
You can take a very casual approach to your summer
studies or make a class out of them. To create your own
summer school course:
* Do some research
* Get material (some is available free off the web)
* List your learning objectives
* Assign levels of competence to be checked off.
* Dive right in!
For more information see article on course design athttp://www.teachinghome.com/supplement/janfeb00/coursedesign.cfm
Here are some suggestions for you to choose from to
make the most of your summer time and studies.

1. Get a Head Start on Next Year.
Select one subject, for instance history, and study it
using your textbooks and/or a unit study with your whole
family. Whatever method or combination of methods you
choose, include related reading, activities, and field trips.
You may be able to do this with just one hour a day or
one day a week.
With one less subject to study for next school year,
you can have a more relaxed schedule. You may be able to
have shorter days or an extra day off each week. This, plus
the joy of learning together at a slower pace, could provide
incentive for your family's learning all year.

2. Shore Up Weak Areas.
A little extra boost in a weak area during the summer
can make the difference between being even further behind
when school starts or experiencing a breakthrough in a hard
subject.
Math practice is especially important; keep up skills
with just three problems a day.

3. Explore New or Favorite Interests.
Do you have a student that wants to explore a subject
or area of interest more deeply than time allows during the
school year? This is a good time to help your children
learn how to learn more about their interests through
supervised internet searches and/or library hunts.

4. Add Electives.
Summer is an ideal opportunity to spend more time in
areas that may get crowded out by the basics during the
regular school year.
You may notice that many electives are named for the
chores or activities that you will be doing anyway:
* Home Ec.: cooking, sewing, home management, canning
* Landscaping, gardening
* Drawing, painting, calligraphy, scrapbooking, crafts
* Music and art appreciation and practice
* Foreign or sign language, logic, speech
* Shop, woodworking, car maintenance and repairs
* Home repairs or remodeling
* P.E.: hiking, outdoor games with the family
Enter a project in any of these areas in your local
county fair.

5. Go on Lots of Field Trips.
Enjoy God's wonderful outdoors and visit educational
sites -- with just your family or together with another
family.

"Summer Activities & Studies"
A 12-page Special Section in the May/June 1996 Back Issue
of The Teaching Home is available athttp://theteachinghomen.goemerchant7.com/
______________________________________________________

FREE -- One magazine holder with each Back Issue
when ordered online by July 4.

Make your teaching easier, more fun, and more enriching
by reading through The Teaching Home Back Issues.
______________________________________________________

Court Declares Pledge Unconstitutional
In a shocking ruling, a three-judge panel of the
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled June 26th that
the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional and cannot
be recited in school classrooms because of the phrase
"under God." Read more athttp://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0021248.html
______________________________________________________

July 4th / Independence Day
Suggested Activities and Links for Further Study

* Obtain a copy of the Declaration of Independence
(see links below) and read and study it carefully.
* Pray for our national, state and local leaders.
* Give praise and thanksgiving for the freedoms that we
enjoy and the sacrifices that were made to ensure them.
* Pray for the millions of believers who do not have
the same freedoms and are persecuted for their faith.

Free from K12: An American Patriotism Program
Internet-based education lessons about the history and
founding principles of the United States of America.
Call (888) 968-7512 or sign up athttp://Patriot.K12.com/jsp/patsignup.jsp

International Independence Days
Selected National Holidays Around the World, 2002 and 2003http://infoplease.com/ipa/A0777535.html
The World Factbook. Information listed on all countries of
the world includes history, geography, people, religions,
government (including their Independence Day), Economy, and
international relations.http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook
______________________________________________________

Home-School Pioneer Paul Lindstrom
Dr. Paul Lindstrom, home-school pioneer, founder and
president of the Christian Liberty Academy School System
(CLASS), went to be home with his Lord and Savior on
May 22, 2002. Memorial page: http://www.homeschools.org
______________________________________________________

Our Readers Write: Victory in Jesus
Home schooling truly has become a way of life for our
family. God used it to open our eyes to the fact that not
only can the Christian family stand firm against the
destructive trends of our times, but through it parents can
prepare their children to embrace a Christian theology of
victory.
It was not until we had gone through the upheavals of
three or four years of public school and its attacks on the
values we taught our children, as well as another exhausting
three years' participation in a private church school, that
God brought us to the place where we could accept that we
alone were responsible for the education of our children.
Almost immediately we began to experience the benefits
and blessings of teaching our 10- and 12-year old sons at
home. Problem behavior could be dealt with immediately.
Our family grew much closer and began to learn what teamwork
was all about.
Through the wonderful Christian curriculum, books, and
periodicals we were exposed to, our eyes and hearts were
being opened to the peace and blessings that result from
"radical" obedience to God and the willingness to pay its
costs. (And there were costs -- isolation, disapproval even
from the Christian community, feelings of inadequacy, plain
hard work, etc.)
Life has become an adventure that we could never have
anticipated only a few years ago! Purpose and direction are
alive in our family; we finally have a battle plan. We have
chosen a lifestyle that insists that we draw near to God and
rely on Him. Our worldview has taken a new direction --
that of being overcomers through Jesus Christ.
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may
have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be
of good cheer, I have overcome the world" John 16:33.

Sunny Side Up: Home, Home on the Range
We were driving along a wooded stretch of highway when
our 7-year-old shouted, "Look, Mommy! I just saw a deer!"
He sat wide-eyed for a moment and then looked up with a
serious expression. "At least I think it was a deer; maybe
it was a cantaloupe." -- Gail M., Washington
______________________________________________________

God loves you.
Because we were separated from God by sin, Jesus Christ
died in our place, then rose to life again. If we trust Jesus
Christ as our Savior and Lord, He will give us eternal life.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a
result of works, that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9).http://www.teachinghome.com/about/salvation.cfm
______________________________________________________

Newsletter Archives
If you missed one of our e-mail newsletters, you will
find some of them posted athttp://www.teachinghome.com/newsletters
______________________________________________________

Reprint Policy
This newsletter is copyright 2002 by The Teaching Home.1. E-Mail Newsletter
Permission is given to forward or to print and
distribute this e-mail in its entirety.2. Individual Articles from this E-Mail Newsletter
Permission is given to e-mail or print individual
articles with the following conditions:
__ To protect our authors' work, we stipulate that
individual articles must be reprinted unedited in their entirety.
__ We do not give permission to post articles on a website.
__ Print the following at the end of the article(s).
"Copyright 2002 by The Teaching Home magazine,
www.TeachingHome.com, Box 20219, Portland
OR 97294. Reprinted by permission."3. Articles from The Teaching Home Magazine
For permission to reprint an article, fill out a
request athttp://www.TeachingHome.com/groups/reprint_form.cfm
and note the reprint policies there.
______________________________________________________

Customer Service
The Teaching Home magazine is still experiencing
financial difficulty. We are selling back issues online in order
to raise funds to print and mail the next issue as soon as we
are able. In the meantime we are offering free e-mail news-
letters as well as many articles, helps, and links to resources
and organizations at http://www.TeachingHome.com.
For more information seehttp://www.TeachingHome.com/custserve/service.cfm
______________________________________________________

Change of E-Mail Address. Please send your name,
old e-mail address, and new e-mail address.Removal. Please reply to this message and type
REMOVE in the subject line.The Teaching Home is a home-school family business
produced in the home of Pat and Sue Welch since 1980.
http://www.TeachingHome.com